Outside, the clouds cleared and the rain dissipated as Zhen Niang reached the final page of the account books. She closed her eyes briefly to collect her thoughts.

In her mind, she pondered how the accounts appeared proper on the surface, but the only issue was that Nanjing seemed to have too many taxes and various levies. Some of these tax categories were ones Zhen Niang had never even heard of before.

According to these taxes and levies listed, Zhen Niang was certain that no business in Nanjing could be profitable except for the imperial shops.

Therefore, while these itemized taxes appeared clear and proper on paper, that very clarity was the biggest problem.

As Zhen Niang thought about this, her index finger tapped lightly on the table surface.

Madam Fang sat to the side with Hua’er.

At this moment, Madam Fang gave Hua’er a meaningful look, signaling her to refill Zhen Niang’s tea. Hua’er tiptoed forward to refill Zhen Niang’s teacup, stealing a careful glance at her.

Truth be told, she felt this cousin was about her own age, yet facing her brought a slight pressure, almost like facing an elder.

However, this morning when she had seen her cousin laughing with Second Madam, she seemed just like any other girl her age.

In any case, Hua’er was very curious about this cousin.

“Thank you, sister,” Zhen Niang opened her eyes and smiled slightly with half-closed eyes.

Hua’er let out a long breath, the previous tension dissipating. She smiled back at Zhen Niang with pursed lips before returning to sit beside Madam Fang.

Zhen Niang took a sip of tea to moisten her lips, then addressed Madam Fang: “Aunt, doesn’t Nanjing seem to have too many taxes? Some aren’t even in the official tax regulations. And the supplementary silver is more than double the standard silver – is this not problematic?”

The so-called “standard and supplementary silver” consisted of standard silver and supplementary silver.

Standard silver was the fixed amount set by the court, collected based on merchants’ assets. However the Ming dynasty evaluated tax officials based on how much they collected – the more they collected, the better their evaluation and easier to get promoted. Collecting less might lead to demotion. Thus came supplementary silver, additional amounts collected by local tax officials.

However, for supplementary silver to be more than double the standard amount was unprecedented.

“Ah, Miss Zhen, you don’t know – Nanjing has no shortage of officials. While the northern court still worries about the Emperor and the people’s welfare, the Nanjing court is full of those who eat without working, yet their expenses are especially high. Particularly the local tax supervisor – he collects taxes like butchering pigs. These years, except for that medicine shop, all other tenants of our shops change yearly, mainly because they can’t afford the taxes. That medicine shop supposedly has connections, so the tax supervisor does not touch them. But we’re different, so many taxes fall on our heads. Especially a few years ago when the flood broke the dikes – just the dike repair silver cost us 800 taels, then they added a service tax, making it 1,200 taels total. We didn’t even get a receipt. They say it all went into the tax supervisor’s pocket, but we couldn’t speak up about it, Miss Zhen. My life has been difficult… If you don’t believe me, you can check with Inspector Ge, he should have records,” Madam Fang began lamenting.

“I was just asking, Aunt, no need to defend yourself so. When I left, my Seventh Grandmother mentioned that Nanjing had many officials above, and your family had it difficult. These years you’ve had both merit and hardship,” Zhen Niang put down her teacup and replied with a smile.

“Ah, I dare not claim merit, just some hardship,” Madam Fang responded humbly upon hearing Zhen Niang’s words, secretly relieved.

“Aunt is too modest. Well, I’ll leave these account books here for now, Second Aunt needs to review them later,” Zhen Niang added.

“Alright, I’ll head down then. There’s still commotion at the warehouse outside, I’ll go check,” Madam Fang said.

“Go ahead,” Zhen Niang nodded.

Madam Fang left, taking Hua’er with her.

Watching Madam Fang’s retreating figure, Zhen Niang shook her head. Though Madam Fang’s words seemed reasonable, Zhen Niang knew that while Ming dynasty tax supervisors were notoriously corrupt, from her dealings with Steward Yan, she knew they wouldn’t dare act recklessly on major matters like dike repair levies and standard-supplementary silver.

Though these two areas were easy to profit from, they were also easily problematic. The Han court-monitored levies and standard-supplementary silver strictly – when such silver was submitted, it required triple documentation.

Like modern tax receipts, one copy each went to the merchant, tax office, and Ministry of Revenue. Each year, censorate inspectors check the records. How could there be no receipt as Madam Fang claimed? If anyone reported it, the tax office would face severe consequences.

Tax officials weren’t foolish – there were plenty of other ways to profit. They didn’t need to risk these two obvious taxes and levies that could easily cause trouble.

“Zhen Niang, the rain has stopped. Let’s visit your aunt,” Madam Huang entered at this moment.

“Yes, Second Aunt,” Zhen Niang nodded, then called for Ma Xiao Ya, gathered gifts for her aunt’s family, and had Er Gou prepare the carriage.

This Er Gou, though incompetent at proper ink making, seemed skilled at everything else, even driving the carriage quite properly.

“Er Gou, turn around from the front entrance,” Zhen Niang said after helping Madam Huang into the carriage, then got in herself with Ma Xiao Ya.

“Yes, Miss!” Er Gou nodded, then drove the carriage forward, wielding his whip skillfully.

After turning the corner, they reached the shop’s main entrance. Zhen Niang lifted the carriage curtain to look outside, seeing several carriages loading and leaving with goods, while a dark-faced man about forty years old directed them.

This must be Ge Xunlan. Qiu Jie didn’t resemble him at all.

At that moment, Ge Xunlan glanced over, catching sight of Zhen Niang. Seeing only a girl of about sixteen or seventeen, he paid little attention.

“Father, that’s Miss Zhen,” Qiu Jie, who had noticed her, whispered in Ge Xunlan’s ear.

“That’s her?” Ge Xunlan furrowed his brow. This refined, somewhat bright but not particularly striking young girl had unknowingly made him stumble, turning his well-laid plans to nothing – truly infuriating.

With these thoughts, Ge Xunlan’s face grew even darker.

The carriage passed by at that moment.

Zhen Niang’s aunt’s house was nearby on Sanshan Street, an area where many wealthy households lived, including some private residences of princes and nobles.

Soon the carriage arrived at her aunt’s doorstep.

The large door was painted date-red, with two stone lions guarding the entrance and brass tiger-head knockers. Such a display would have been striking in Huizhou, but here in Nanjing, particularly in the Jubao district, it was quite ordinary.

Ma Xiao Ya jumped down first, then helped Zhen Niang and Madam Huang descend while Er Gou went to knock on the door.

When the doorkeeper heard that the mistress’s relatives from Huizhou had arrived, he hurriedly sent someone to report it. Usually, in such situations, the carriage and visitors would be welcomed directly inside.

However, recently he had heard the housemaids gossiping that the mistress seemed to hold some grudges against her natal family, often speaking ill of them. Thus, he dared not make the decision himself.

“Greetings, Second Aunt,” At this moment, the eldest sister-in-law Han Chen Shi came out joyfully to welcome them. She bowed to Madam Huang, then took Zhen Niang’s arm, looking her up and down: “So this is Cousin Zhen? You’re truly graceful!”

“Sister-in-law flatters me. But now you’ve elevated me to heaven – you’ll need to get me a ladder, or I won’t be able to come down, and that would be your fault,” Zhen Niang replied with a giggle.

Han Li Shi had two sons. The elder son, Han Song, had begun taking over the Han family’s raw silk business and was often away traveling. The younger son, Han Bai, had previously studied under an old provincial graduate among the Han clan members. He had already obtained his xiucai degree and was now studying at the academy, preparing for next year’s provincial examinations.

Han Chen Shi was Han Song’s wife, also born into a merchant family. She helped her mother-in-law manage the household and won Han Li Shi’s favor. As for her second cousin Han Bai, he was still unmarried. Zhen Niang had heard Seventh Grandmother mention that her eldest aunt wanted Han Bai to pursue an official career, so naturally, they hoped to arrange a marriage with an official’s daughter.

However, for a merchant’s son to marry an official’s daughter was nearly impossible unless Han Bai could pass the provincial examinations.

Privately, Zhen Niang had heard her mother say that her Seventh Grandmother had once considered matching her with her second cousin. Fortunately, her eldest aunt had disapproved. Otherwise, Zhen Niang would have been in a difficult position – given her circumstances, if she dared refuse, her mother would have been furious. But she couldn’t accept marrying her cousin.

Now, thankfully, all was peaceful.

However, the person Zhen Niang most admired in the Han family was her legendary uncle. Though Uncle Han Yigui was wealthy, he never took a concubine.

Years ago, Han Yigui had started as a small cloth merchant. Seeing profit in Li ink, he visited the Li family daily hoping to obtain goods to sell.

At that time, Li ink was imperial tribute ink, and small merchants like Han Yigui did not qualify to handle such goods. But Han Yigui persisted in visiting the Li ink shop every day regardless of the weather, eventually moving the old master Li, who then agreed to let him sell Li ink.

Thus, Han Yigui earned his first pot of gold. After several years, he had accumulated some capital. When silk farming became popular in Huizhou, he saw the profit in raw silk and switched businesses, starting from collecting cocoons and gradually moving up to purchasing raw silk. Finally, he became a silk merchant under the Nanjing Imperial Weaving House – finding shelter under a great tree, as they say.

Back then, old master Li had seen his diligence, endurance, and steadiness, and thus gave him his only daughter in marriage. At the time, old Master Li made Han Yigui promise that unless he had no sons, he would not take any concubines.

Han Yigui agreed and kept his word for decades. It was said he not only didn’t take concubines but didn’t even visit courtesans.

This was truly admirable.

“Ha! We heard you never left home, yet here you are in Nanjing. Perfect, we can have a good chat,” Han Li Shi also came out to greet them, happily calling Madam Huang from afar. Her face was all smiles as she invited her in, but she didn’t spare even a glance for Zhen Niang, deliberately leaving her hanging.

Zhen Niang touched her nose.

She had anticipated such a situation – her eldest aunt was likely still angry about her refusing to lend money.

While the mother-in-law could act this way, Han Chen Shi couldn’t be impolite, so she smiled and welcomed Zhen Niang: “This is Zhen Niang’s first visit. Come, let me show you around. There’s a wooden pavilion in front with some peonies your aunt specially planted – they’re budding now, let’s go take a look.”

“That would be lovely,” Zhen Niang agreed, following Han Chen Shi on a tour of the Han residence.

The Ming Dynasty had regulations prohibiting gardens within the city, but small gardens still existed. The Han family’s main residence was a front-and-back compound, with a small eastern courtyard on the side. The back had a wooden pavilion connected by covered corridors, and with the front and back courtyards, it had quite a Hui-style garden atmosphere and was quite impressive.

Currently, her aunt, uncle, and eldest cousin’s family live in the main residence. The side courtyard was for her second cousin’s private study. The back pavilion was generally used for receiving guests.

After touring with Han Chen Shi, they returned to the wooden pavilion. Unexpectedly, they saw two middle-aged men sitting at a stone table in front, drinking tea and chatting. One was dressed like a farmer but had sharp, penetrating eyes that commanded respect.

The other man Zhen Niang recognized – he was the physician she had met on the boat to Nanjing.

“Zhen Niang, this is your eldest uncle,” Han Chen Shi introduced the farmer-like man.

“Greetings, Uncle,” Zhen Niang quickly bowed.

“No need for such formality. We’re all family,” the man laughed heartily, his manner very forthright. His eyes showed a hint of approval.

In these times, people are commonly judged by appearance alone. Han Yigui knew that most strangers would look down on his farmer’s attire. But this young lady from Huizhou didn’t – she was respectful yet showed a hint of warmth, most appropriate for distant relatives.

That touch of warmth prevented distance between relatives while maintaining proper respect and avoided presumption. Just from this greeting, he could tell this Miss Zhen was proper in her conduct. Especially impressive was her discernment.

Little did Han Yigui know that while wealthy people dressing modestly like him was uncommon, it wasn’t unheard of. In her previous life, Zhen Niang had once attended a trade fair with her family’s ink and met a southern snake-farming tycoon worth hundreds of millions who wore liberation shoes and a jacket, carrying a snakeskin bag. He had shocked many people.

So Zhen Niang wasn’t fooled by Han Yigui’s farmer’s clothes.

At this moment, the gentleman also saw Zhen Niang and nodded with a smile.

“Greetings, Sir,” as they hadn’t exchanged names that day, Zhen Niang addressed him thus.

“Hello, Miss,” the gentleman smiled, then added: “By the way, when you left the boat that day, the Li couple looked for you for quite a while.”

Seeing the confusion on Zhen Niang’s face, he explained: “The Li couple – the ones you helped with medicinal ink that day.”

“Oh,” Zhen Niang nodded in understanding.

“Medicinal ink to help someone? What’s this story?” Han Yigui asked curiously.

The gentleman then told Han Yigui about the incident on the boat. Han Yigui nodded repeatedly, his appreciation of Zhen Niang growing.

“Does Zhen Niang know who this gentleman is?” Han Yigui asked, pointing to the man. From their conversation, it was clear they had only met by chance.

“I was just about to ask,” Zhen Niang said respectfully.

“He’s Master Zonglin, the clan brother of Lord Hu, president of our Huizhou Merchants’ Association,” Han Yigui laughed.

“Please don’t say that. It’s uncertain how long I can remain president, and nowadays, though I hold the position, few listen to what I say,” Master Zonglin waved his hand dismissively, though maintaining his scholarly demeanor.

Zhen Niang understood that Lord Hu her uncle was the famous anti-Japanese general Hu Zongxian. Unfortunately, Hu Zongxian had taken his own life in prison the previous year.

Thus, Master Zonglin’s position in the merchant association must not be easy these days.

However, Zhen Niang was surprised that Master Zonglin was a merchant – with his scholarly manner, he seemed more like a literati.